


Yes, I will

by vampirevessel



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst with a Happy Ending, Developing Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Insecure Lee Taeyong, Light Angst, M/M, Platonic Relationships, Popularity, Protective Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun, Protectiveness, Short, Short & Sweet, Soft Lee Taeyong, Taeyong is older than Jaehyun, Threats, basically Jaehyun is Taeyong's guardian angel, because I said so, but calls him hyung, i'm stupid, just a tiny bit, like seriously i finished this 3am on a tuesday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:09:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29674011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vampirevessel/pseuds/vampirevessel
Summary: In elementary school, everyone wanted to be friends with Taeyong, and he wanted to be friends with them.In middle school, everyone wanted to be "friends" with Taeyong, when he wanted a Friend.In high school, he met Jung Jaehyun, who made sure "friends" would stay away from him.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun & Lee Taeyong
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	Yes, I will

**Author's Note:**

> This came to me at 1am when I had wanted to be asleep for two hours already.  
> It plays in the same universe as my other work "Listen, the snow is falling" but about ten years ealier.

Taeyong had been complemented for his looks ever since he could remember. At every family dinner, every birthday of his parents' friends, at every Sunday Mass; it was always the same.  
"Oh, you're a pretty one, aren't you?", they'd say, or "You will grow up to be a fine man", and of course there was the occasional "I need to introduce you to my daughter!" from unhappy old women that desperately wanted a grandchild.  
But Taeyong wasn't just that. He wasn't just a pretty face, a skinny, athletic body, and great proportions.

"Don't run around thinking you're better than everyone else," were the first words Taeyong had heard him say. Him, Jaehyun, the handsome guy from his class that Taeyong was convinced had American parents, or at least grandparents. It was the first day in his new school, his parents had just bought a house of their own and promised this would be the first and last time they would rip him out of his social environment. Taeyong found out that he didn't really care. He enjoyed spending the rest of his holidays alone with his parents, his sister, and Ruby. Usually he would go outside with friends, shopping in the mall or hanging out in the park, but it was never something he craved doing.

On his first day, Taeyong had come to school later than everyone else, but still was surrounded by girls in a matter of seconds. Some were really friendly, offering to show him around after school and helping him with catching up on the classes, while other ones were a little intrusive, asking about his relationship status before even introducing themselves.  
Jaehyun had eyed him from the corner of the room the second he sat down on his chair. Once the girls were gone, the guys left and right to him started asking him questions; what sports he did, what music he liked, what his hobbies were, and if he had a girlfriend. Taeyong answered as many questions as he could before the teacher started her lesson. She let him introduce himself briefly and asked her students to save the questions for the end of her class.  
Taeyong was lent a book by the girl sitting behind him and turned red in embarrassment when he saw a piece of paper with her number on it when he opened the page they were working on.

Once the class ended, he left the room with a group of approximately ten people, everyone trying to get as close to him as somehow possible. Taeyong felt small and vulnerable. He tried to keep his answers short but got hit by more and more questions. He wanted to be rude so they would let him go but was physically incapable of doing so. His parents had raised him well and rude was not what they had raised him to be.  
A girl offered to show him the principal's office which parted the group, so that there were only about seven people left, himself included, walking to the office like a bunch of baby ducks following their mommy. Taeyong was called inside by the principal and sighed in relief.

"I see you're already making friends," the principal said with a friendly smile, and Taeyong nodded. He introduced himself and bowed before sitting down in the chair the woman was pointing at. They talked about his previous school, the classes he had taken, the topics they had worked on, the grades he had had, and as the time went on, Taeyong was getting more and more uncomfortable under the woman's stare.  
"I'm glad you decided to visit our school and hope you will have a great time here," she said at the end of their talk and led him outside. 

The break had ended a few minutes ago so the people who had brought him to the office were already gone - except for one.  
"I stayed to make sure you don't get lost," the girl said and Taeyong recognized her as the one he borrowed the book from in their first lesson.  
"My name is Kanade Minami, I'm sorry if the note earlier made you uncomfortable," she said earnestly with a polite bow and started walking him through the hallways, "I just wasn't sure if I'd get to talk to you again." She was small and imperceptible, her face was rounder than that of the other girl's, which gave her a certain innocence Taeyong adored.  
"Thank you," Taeyong said and smiled at the girl. He had expected the number coming from one of the crazy ones, but was terribly mistaken. Minami didn't speak much and Taeyong was grateful for the two minutes of silence that gave him. They entered the class late and bowed to the teacher, who just sent them to their seats without further remark and continued her class. Taeyong borrowed Minami's book and thought back to the note in his pocket. He'd have to make sure to take it out before throwing his pants in the washing machine.

As the last class of his day ended, Taeyong was led to the bus stops, questions raining down on him non-stop. After just two lessons this day, Taeyong felt more exhausted than he did after dance practice. After answering some and dodging most of the questions, the majority of his classmates left to get on their busses and Taeyong sighed. He leaned against a tree and jumped when he felt a body on his shoulder. The boy who had glared at him from the corner of the class was standing there with his sunglasses on his nose, the jacket of his uniform hanging halfway off his shoulder. The boy scoffed.  
"Don't run around thinking you're better than everyone else," he said and pulled his phone out of his pocket.  
"I'm sorry, that was never my intention," Taeyong said truthfully and bowed slightly. There was something about this guy that made Taeyong feel small and vulnerable again, but also safe and protected, like he could just hide behind him and nothing would ever happen to him.  
"Could you just piss off? I don't want to get mobbed by your fanclub." Taeyong bowed again and checked his own phone. Just a few seconds later his sister's car pulled up and Taeyong got in.  
"How was your first day?" she asked as Taeyong fastened his seatbelt. He saw Jaehyun from his place on the back seat but the boy didn't turn around to follow Taeyong with curious eyes, he just stared at his phone and lit a cigarette.  
"Pretty exhausting, actually," he admitted and closed his eyes, head leaning against the headrest.  
"What? Already got a new fanclub?"  
"It's not funny, noona."  
"Sorry Yongie, but it's just getting so predictable at this point." She stopped at a red light and turned around to look at her brother.  
"You'll do just fine. I promise."  
And somehow, she had kept her promise.

Over the next month, Taeyong got closer to Minami and his fanclub stopped mobbing him. There were occasions where a girl or two would follow him around, but it was rarely more than that.  
Jaehyun hadn't spoken another word to him, but he stopped giving Taeyong glares that could burn a hole through his head. He got his own books and adjusted to the topics they were currently working at with the occasional help of Minami.  
He found out that the Japanese girl had a huge Sanrio collection and had skipped two years, making her the youngest student in their grade, yet she was constantly on top of all subjects, with the exception of PE, her tiny body unable to keep up with the other girls in her course.  
Taeyong on the other hand was doing just fine in PE. He was a fast, persistent runner, easily applied the techniques of most sports in practical exams and showed the engagement his teacher wanted to see.

One day, after their PE teacher locked the gym and everyone went home, Jaehyun approached Taeyong at the bus stops.  
"Hi," he said shortly and Taeyong wasn't sure what to expect. He had kept his distance to Jaehyun but was never rude to him, just to the other's favor.  
"I wanted to apologize." Jaehyun bowed and Taeyong's eyes widened in surprise.  
"When you first came here, I thought you were one of those pretty, rich wannabe-princes, but I now realized I was wrong to jump to that conclusion. I apologize." Taeyong accepted his apology and entered his sister's car with a smile. When he looked out of his window, he could see Jaehyun watching him.

Another month passed and they got yet another new student. The boy was taller than Taeyong, more confident, more muscular, more manly. On the first day, he found out that the guy had been transferred from another school due to bad behaviour. He was older than everyone else and the teachers hated him from day one, the boys admired him, the girls loved him. Taeyong remained neutral until he could build his own opinion on the boy.  
At the end of the week, the new boy, Yixun, asked him to come see him behind the gym after their PE class. Taeyong accepted the offer and was just about to follow him outside when Jaehyun put his hand on Taeyong's shoulder.  
"Don't do it," he said and there was a certain something in his eyes, but Taeyong couldn't identify what it was.  
"Why not?"  
"He is the bad guy," Jaehyun said, putting excessive stress on the verb.  
"Taeyong, are you coming?" Yixun asked and looked back to check on him. Taeyong looked at Yixun, then at Jaehyun, and made a decision.  
"Sorry, I need to go home." He grabbed Jaehyun's shirt and was led outside the gym to the bus stops. 

They walked a bit further than Taeyong was used to, hiding behind the small garage of the school's janitor.  
Still curious, and slightly guilty for not giving Yixun a chance, he asked Jaehyun about him.  
"What do you expect of a guy two years older than you, who gets transferred from one school to another because of his bad behavior?" Jaehyun asked angrily and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.  
"He isn't a good person that happens to have a bad reputation, Taeyong. He made this choice by himself. He's building up this reputation like a throne for him to reign from. All he cares about is creating yet another scandal." Jaehyun took a break to take a drag from his cigarette, his free hand turned into a fist. "He has done things way worse than messing with boys behind a gym, Taeyong. This wouldn't just be the first or second time, and certainly not the last." Taeyong leaned against the wall next to Jaehyun and played with the little stones under his feet. Jaehyun threw the butt of his cigarette to the ground and started walking back to the bus stops.  
"Jaehyun hyung," Taeyong said when he spotted his sister's car, "thank you for taking care of me." Taeyong got in the car and waved as they drove off.

Because Taeyong had noticed. He had noticed Jaehyun randomly appearing in the queue behind him, Jaehyun randomly waiting at the sinks in the restroom until he got out, Jaehyun randomly standing in front of the classroom when he stayed longer to talk with teachers.  
Just that, as it turned out, it wasn't as random as Taeyong first thought.  
Minami started pointing this out to Taeyong when Jaehyun's maybe-not-so-random appearance had protected her from some of the girls that had mobbed Taeyong when he first arrived at the school. Somehow Jaehyun always managed to be at the right place at the right time. Taeyong started to wonder what would have happened to both him and Minami if Jaehyun wasn't there.

Until he actually wasn't. Taeyong hadn't noticed the other wasn't there until the teacher went through his class list, calling for everyone except Jaehyun, which meant he had called in sick, but Jaehyun had never been sick before. And when he was, he still came to school. His absence turned Taeyong into a nervous wreck. He didn't have his number or any way to communicate with him except face-to-face when they met after school.  
Taeyong walked around in the building with Minami close by his side. He wasn't sure who was taking care of who. All he did was blink and Minami was gone, disappearing into the crowd of students trying to get to their classes. He entered his Chinese teacher's office with an aching tummy, and the feeling didn't go away when he saw Yixun sitting in one of the chairs.  
"Please take a seat, Taeyong," his teacher said and Taeyong did as he was told. He had been called into the office because his teacher offered him a job as tutor, seeing as his Chinese was one of the best in his class, and the Chinese students denied his offer. He had not expected Yixun to be the student he was going to tutor.  
"I'm sorry, but I don't feel well," Taeyong said after his teacher was done explaining what was expected of him, and got up from his chair.  
"I can walk you to the nurse."  
"You're not walking him anywhere. Taeyong, I don't remember allowing you to leave." Mr. Zheng pushed him down on his chair again and Taeyong's heart dropped into his pants.  
"You are going to teach this son of a bitch or I will give you a D, it's as easy as that."  
Taeyong needed a minute to figure out what was the major shock factor in this statement. A teacher calling a student something like that, or a teacher threatening his student?  
"This is blackmailing," he said quietly and both his teacher and Yixun laughed.  
"Oh, is that so? Thank God, someone told me! That's the damn purpose of this conversation, Lee Taeyong."  
"Father, I don't think he got your word play," Yixun said and Taeyong felt like he couldn't trust his ears anymore. Everything felt off.  
"You're a sweet little thing, Taeyong. You got the following options: one, you teach my son without any disturbances and I won't let it affect your grades; if you don't, you're going to fail my class. Or two, you're joining me in my office every week at this time to earn your grade back." Mr. Zheng grabbed at Taeyong's crotch and he understood. This couldn't be happening. He held the cross hanging on his chest and took a shaky breath. He was about to cry just in front of the two men threatening him. Taeyong prayed silently for this to be nothing but a bad dream, and that he would wake up any second in his warm, cozy bed at home where he felt safe and protected.  
The door behind him opened and Taeyong knew immediately who was now standing behind him.  
"Jung Jaehyun, I didn't say you could come in!" The teacher exclaimed angrily but Jaehyun didn't even look at him. He grabbed Taeyong's wrist and pulled him out of the office, into the boy's restroom. Taeyong started sobbing into his shirt. He had been wondering what would happen if Jaehyun wasn't there with him, and he wasn't happy with the answer he got.  
"Don't leave me," he sobbed, hugging the younger as tight as he could.  
"I'm sorry. It won't happen again." They stayed until the end of the break, then Jaehyun led him to the nurse's office so Taeyong could call his mother to pick him up.  
"You will be here tomorrow, will you?" Taeyong asked, and Jaehyun nodded.  
"Yes, I will."  
"Promise?"  
"I promise."

Taeyong still met Jaehyun every once in a while. He was married now. His husband was an angel, and Taeyong loved the way "Moon Jaehyun" sounded, even though it was different from the "Jung Jaehyun" he knew from school - the person was still the same. Protective but not possessive, a good soul with some bad habits. Sometimes Taeyong dreamed of going on a double date with him, Doyoung and Taeil, and sometimes he dreamed of inviting them to their wedding. 

When Jaehyun had married Taeil, Taeyong had invited Minami to go with him. It had been the most magical moment Taeyong had ever experienced. The only event that could top this magical feeling would be his own wedding, with his parents and sister, Jaehyun and Taeil, Minami, the kids, and most importantly, Doyoung. But for now, that was just a dream. He wasn't in a hurry to get this over with like some sort of work he had to finish on time. Every moment he got to spend with Doyoung was a gift he wouldn't trade for the world, and one day, he would be the one to say the magical words: Yes I will.

**Author's Note:**

> Please tell me what you think, I need to know if my sleep was wasted or ditched for good. <3


End file.
